The Crusader Fortress of Vadum Iacob - Ateret - Le Chastelet - Israel скачать в хорошем качестве

The Crusader Fortress of Vadum Iacob - Ateret - Le Chastelet - Israel

Jacob's Ford is approximately one hundred miles north of Jerusalem at the Jordan River and was a key river crossing on one of the main roads between Acre, Israel and Damascus.[4] Between October 1178 and April 1179, Baldwin began the first stages of constructing his new line of defense, a fortification called Chastellet at Jacob's Ford. While construction was in progress, Saladin became fully aware of the task he would have to overcome at Jacob's Ford if he were to protect Syria and conquer Jerusalem. At the time, he was unable to stop the erection of Chastellet by military force because a large portion of his troops were stationed in northern Syria, putting down Muslim rebellions. As one author writes, "Saladin was always at pains to portray himself as the champion of Islam against the European intruders, although in fact he spent much of, if not more, of his career involved in a war against...other Muslims."[5] Consequently, the sultan turned to bribery and offered Baldwin 60,000 dinars to halt construction. Baldwin declined, but Saladin made a counter-offer of 100,000 dinars.[6] The Christian king refused again and continued to build Chastellet. By the summer of 1179, Baldwin's forces had constructed a stone wall of massive proportions. "The castle now had a formidable ten met[er] high wall -- what one Arabic contemporary later described as 'an impregnable rampart of stone and iron' -- and a single tower, but it was still a work in progress.After Baldwin refused both bribes, Saladin turned his attention away from the uprisings in northern Syria and focused on Jacob's Ford and the Castle of Chastellet. He was fully aware that any further bargaining or negotiations would only be in vain and that the more time he wasted, the more time Baldwin would have to complete his massive fortification. In 1179, only a few months after construction of Chastellet began, Saladin summoned a large Muslim army to march southeast towards Jacob's Ford. The plan was simple: lay siege to the castle and its inhabitants before any reinforcements from Jerusalem or any of its neighboring territories could arrive. Baldwin, on the other hand, was situated at Tiberias, a province situated on the Sea of Galilee, approximately a half day's march from Jacob's Ford. If any attack were to befall his project, reinforcements would be able to arrive relatively quickly. Moreover, the fortification at Jacob's Ford, at least what was completed of it, was relatively strong and was likely able to hold out until relief could arrive in case of siege. As one Crusades author asserts and inquisitively asks, "[t]he siege was effectively a race -- could the Muslims crack the stronghold's defenses before the Latin forces arrived?" On 23 August 1179, Saladin arrived at Jacob's Ford and ordered his troops to shoot arrows at the castle, thus initiating the siege of the castle. While the archers distracted the men inside the fortification, miners were digging a tunnel to breach the stone and iron walls at the north-east corner of Chastellet. Once the tunnel was dug, Saladin's forces placed large pieces of wood into the tunnel and set them alight. This process, called sapping, was a method in which the tunnel's supports were burnt away forcing the walls to eventually collapse under their own weight.[8] Sapping initially failed for Saladin and his troops. So, the troops were forced to put out the fire with buckets of water and were paid one gold piece per bucket to do so.[8] After the fire was extinguished, the miners were instructed to relight the fire. At the same time, Baldwin, having learned of this attack, called for reinforcements from Jerusalem. However, communications between Baldwin and Chastellet were slow and, by this time, the siege had been underway for several days.Baldwin's forces inside the castle began to reinforce the main gates around the castle. Shortly after, the Muslims relit the fire in the tunnel under the castle, and the walls collapsed. As a result, the Crusaders' attempts to refortify the castle were in vain and, approximately six days after the siege began, Saladin and his troops entered Chastellet. By 30 August 1179, the Muslim invaders had pillaged the castle at Jacob's Ford and killed most of its residents. On the same day, less than one week after reinforcements were called, Baldwin and his supporting army set out from Tiberias, only to discover smoke permeating the horizon directly above Chastellet. Obviously, they were too late to save the 700 knights, architects, and construction workers who were killed and the other 800 who were taken captive.[8] Baldwin and his reinforcements turned back towards Tiberias and Saladin ordered the remains of the fortification to be torn down